


The Next Masterchef

by chatterboxrose



Category: Glee
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, M/M, Masterchef, Multi, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 19:10:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7450738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chatterboxrose/pseuds/chatterboxrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Masterchef AU: Alternative meeting. (No one knows each other, no glee club, etc) Kurt, Blaine and sixteen other contestants compete to see who will become the next Masterchef. For Kurt, he's not going to let anything get in his way of winning - even the (admittedly cute) Blaine Anderson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this is a multi-chapter fanfiction that I began working on shortly after Glee ended (though I had the idea for nearly a year before that). I really tried to finish this, but after a while I just lost the motivation to do so. There are three unfinished chapters at the end that I just can't bring myself to finish. For now I'm going to post the 11 chapters I have finished, because I'm sad to see them go unseen on my hard drive. 
> 
> Even though I'm more focused on original works now, rather than fanfiction, I might get the inspiration to finish this up depending on the feedback I get. If not, I will be happy to post the "outline" of the remaining chapters and what I saw happening. If you're okay with the possibility of this not being finished, enjoy reading what is! 
> 
> (small spoiler: you will see Klaine get together in this, I just haven't finished up the competition yet, if you're familar with the show Masterchef).

Prologue

My name is Kurt Hummel and I'm 24 years old. I work at vogue.com in New York City and I'm from Lima, Ohio. I've always loved to cook – mostly because it's, well, one of the things I can very clearly remember doing with my mother before she passed away when I was young. I have all her recipes – ones from her family and others she came up with herself. It's like… cooking them keeps her alive even now. I never thought I could do this as a career, though, hence going into fashion when I got to New York after I graduated. I love fashion just as much. You get to express yourself. But with this – it's much more personal. I've always sort of wanted to open a restaurant and name it for my mother. Maybe doing this will help me do that.

Hi! I'm Blaine Anderson, 23, from Westerville, Ohio. I finished my teaching degree from OSU last year and I have been working as a kindergarten teacher back home in Westerville and don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but lately I do feel like I've missed my opportunity to follow some of my dreams. So that's why I'm taking a risk to do something I really love – cooking. Coming from a Filipino background, cooking is just a huge part of the culture. I remember cooking all day with my mom and grandmother and they'd let me help and...it's some of my best memories. I never stopped, even though I've never done cooking professionally and for once in my life I've decided to take a leap.

Hey. I'm Will Schuester and I've been an accountant for most of my life and – well to be honest – in a horrible marriage that I've just gotten out of and – I've realized I wanted to do something for myself after that. I haven't done something for myself in god, maybe twenty years? I always wanted to be a good husband so I choose a career that would give us the money we needed to survive but it never made me happy. Cooking, being in the kitchen and creating something out of nothing – that makes me happy and I'm so glad I'm finally doing something with it now. Even if it's a little late.

I'm Santana Lopez, 28, from Los Angeles. I've done a little of everything at this point in my life: waitressing, singing at a club, even some security guarding – whatever. But all of it was just to pay the bills and now I want to do something I actually like. My abuela taught me how to cook when I was little and well, we've had our differences as I've grown up, but that's finally over now and I want to win this for her.

Hello, I'm Rachel Berry, from upstate New York and I'm 22 years old. I am a woman of many talents and while one day I will inevitably be on Broadway, cooking is another one of my passions that I want to chase after. I'm a Vegan and I'm always cooking vegan friendly dishes for my friends and family without them even realizing it, so I feel like I'll go farther in this competition than any other vegan or vegetarian. In fact, I want to prove that you can be vegan and the next Masterchef.

I'm Sebastian Smythe, 27. I like to call the world home. I spent a significant amount of time living in France and Italy, as well as visiting a lot of places in Europe, all of which has expanded my palate. I've cooked with ingredients that most people in this competition will have never seen before. This will most definitely give me an edge.

I'm Holly Holiday and – do I have to disclose my age? Can you take a few years off or something? Thanks. Okay. Well, I've never attached myself to things for very long. I've been a substitute teacher for a long time and don't really stay in one place for very long, but one thing I've always loved to do is cook. So many this would be a good thing to stick around for.

I'm Quinn Fabray. I'm from Connecticut and I've just turned 24. I've always tried to be the golden girl, even when I was messing up. I had a baby when I was sixteen and...well, even though she isn't in my life now, I want to make her proud. I see her sometimes. She's beautiful. And I want to show that I’m not some teenage statistic. I just graduated from Yale this year and that was one of my best accomplishments so far, but I want to make this the next one. I really love to do this and – my friends and family don't even know I'm here. So no one is expecting anything from me and not having that pressure on me is really satisfying.

Howdy there. I'm Sheldon Beiste and I'm from Texas. My life – it's been hard in the last few years. But I've made a lot of personal changes lately and I love who I am, now. My next step is to make myself happier in what I'm doing with my life. I've been a college football coach for a long time. Now I want to see if I can do other stuff that I love.

Azimio Adams, 20 years old from Louisiana. I'm doing this for my mom. She raised us by herself and since I was the oldest, I did a lot of cooking growing up and I learned a thing or two. So I'm gonna win this for my brothers to give them a real chance. I want to prove it doesn't matter what your background is – you can do amazing things.

Oh, hi. I'm Emma Pillsbury and I'm a guidance counselor at a high school. I'm – I'm very particular about things, you could say. With cooking, I can sometimes let go a bit. I love plating things and making them look perfect.

Cheers, I'm Adam Crawford. I'm 29 and from Surrey, England and well, one reason I'm so keen on being in this competition is because my mates always joke that Gordon Ramsey must be my father, we look so alike. Joking aside, I love to cook and I'm so happy to have this opportunity.

I'm Sam Evans. Sam I am. I will not be cooking green eggs and ham. I'm only 17 and I'm – not that smart. I'll be honest. But with cooking it's not all about smarts – it's about feeling the food and knowing what can go together by taste. My family has had a rough time lately and I really want to win this to maybe get back on our feet.

What's up. I'm Artie Abrams. I'm 26 years old and I'm from Seattle. Most people look at me and think “well you can't do what you want to do” because I'm in this chair. That just makes it a lot more fun when I prove them wrong, you know? Sure, I need a kitchen that is a little lower, but other than that I don't need anything different than any other contestant. I want to show all kids in a chair, or that might have another obstacle to face, that they can do whatever the hell they want to do.

I'm Bryan Ryan and I'm from Kansas City. I used to always be the best in home ec class as a kid. Then I would make pies that would win first place at the fair every year and – I don't know. I gave up on my dream for a long time. I told myself what was realistic. Now I want to try to get back into things.

I'm Tina Cohen-Chang. I'm from the San Francisco area and my dream has always been to open a restaurant that has a Jewish fusion. I've been passed up a lot for things in the past but I feel like it's finally my time to shine.

Hello. I'm Millie Rose. I've been a lunch lady for about twenty years now and it's given my daughter an okay life, but I've always wanted better for her. I wish I could have done something more. I cook all of our meals at home and lately, I've really been trying to get healthier. Food has always been an escape for me and – well, you can see how much I've needed escape. But so far I've lost forty pounds and I can't wait to be even healthier one day. The trick is all in how you make your food and what you put on your plate. I'm learning that now.

I'm Jesse St. James and I'm here to win, no question. I've had some of the best culinary teachers for most of my young life but I'm here to put it all on the line and win. Everyone else just has to deal with coming in last.

 

Chapter 1

 

When Blaine walks into the Masterchef kitchen, he's sure his face will be stuck in a smile for the rest of his life. Because he's here. This is real. He's actually here, wearing the white apron with his name sewn into the top and Blaine feels like maybe this is all a dream and he'll be woken up soon by his kids because he fell asleep during their nap time again (and god, he'll probably have glue in his hair. Again).

Except....he really is here. This is real and he's part of one of the best reality shows in America and he could actually win. If he plays his cards right. Yeah, everyone around him is a good cook too, they obviously wouldn't be here otherwise, but so is Blaine. He can do this.

Everyone else seems just as in awe as he feels. He's been introduced to everyone at the hotel, when they'd checked in and gotten room assignments. His roommate is a British man named Adam and they stayed up a bit late talking. He joked that he looked like Gordon Ramsey a bit and Blaine couldn't get that out of his head afterwards, it was a good comparison.

That morning a lot of them talked, too loudly, over breakfast before leaving for the Masterchef kitchen. He still doesn't feel like he knows anyone well. He's glad everyone has a name tag, honestly.

He can already tell that some people here are no nonsense. You know, the people you always see on reality shows that say “I'm here to win, not to make friends” in a bitchy tone? That would be at least three people so far: the first is Kurt, is a tall guy with brunette hair and pretty blue eyes with a wicked sense of fashion, the second is a Latina girl named Santana that looks like she might just kill someone with a well meaning glare, and the third another man named Jesse who looks cool and collected as he looks around the room. None of these three had really socialized last night or this morning.

Blaine isn't too worried. He has dealt with worst than unfriendly people in the past after all.

Once they've all filtered into the kitchen, cameras picking up their awed expressions, the director and producer start to explain what will be happening today.

It's interesting, seeing the way a director and producer interact on a reality show. Even though it's real, there is a loose “script” for the day, which Blaine never really thought a reality TV show would have. It's really for direction and pre-planned food related puns and jokes for the judges apparently, which makes sense. They'll also be interviewed at many different parts of the day: to get their thoughts on the kitchen for the first time, after they've finished cooking, the reactions to things and all.

There are three cameras – one is attached to a crane and the other two have men holding them. Blaine is already feeling a little self conscious as they walk around the room to film.

They soon get into really filming. The judges come out and introduce themselves. Though Blaine had seen them during his audition and won them over with his dish, he still can't believe he's actually in the same room as Chef Gordon, Graham and Joe. Everyone has been lead to each of their cooking stations (Blaine notes that the man in the wheelchair, Artie, has a special station that is lower than the rest) and faces the three judges on the platform.

“Welcome, everyone, to the Masterchef kitchen!” says Gordon and they all applaud to that.

“Now all of you are one of the twenty best home cooks across America, something you should already be really proud of to get this far,” says Graham.

“But only one of you can be the next Masterchef and publish your own cookbook and more importantly, this.” Joe unveils the Masterchef trophy under a red cloth and suddenly it all seems much more...real. He's here. Only nineteen other people stand between him and that trophy.

“So, let's get down to business shall we?” says Gordon, looking excited. “Today we will do your first Mystery Box Challenge. Whoever wins this today will have a killer advantage going into our first Elimination Challenge, where not one, but two, will be going home today.”

That causes everyone's eyes to widen and look around the room. Blaine himself gets a little antsy. He sort of expected a double elimination – it is the first week after all – but the reality of it freaks him out. He looks over to Kurt, who is nearest him; he doesn't look bothered by this news at all. He just has a steal sort of expression that he's had since Blaine met him the night before.

/Interviews/

Kurt: It really doesn't matter if one, two, or five people are going home today. It's not going to be me.

Tina: The judges are wasting no time getting us out the door, are they? I think my hives have hives.

/Interviews/

“Now you will see that your mystery box is right in front of you all,” says Graham. “Shall we get started with your first challenge?”

“Yes Chef!” they all chorus. Everyone has reached out to put both hands on the box. Blaine feels the rough wood and feels like he might throw up.

“On the count of three then,” says Gordon. “One....two...three...go!”

Blaine lifts up his box – it's rather heavy, actually, and he stumbles – and then looks down.

His heart positively soars.

/Interviews/

Blaine: This mystery box was made for me. Oh my god. I have all the things my family traditionally cooks with!

Kurt: I thought the first mystery box would honestly be more difficult than this. This will be cake.

Santana: All I can think looking down at this box is: Hell. Yes. Mama has arrived. Bow to your future Masterchef.

Sheldon: Well slap my ass and call me Judy. I might just win this thing.

/Interviews/

“I see a lot of happy faces out there,” says Graham. “Why don't you all look around.”

Blaine does and is...confused. Next to him, Kurt has a completely different set of ingredients in front of him. He looks behind him. That woman, Santana, has every kind of traditional Mexican ingredient he can think of. He looks to Sheldon. He has a lot of different meats and spices and Rachel, a small girl that is incredibly loud, has a lot of greens in hers.

Everyone has a different box that seems to be made for them.

“That's right. Everyone has a different box in this Mystery Box Challenge,” says Joe. “And does it look familiar to anyone?”

The petite red head, Emma, raises her hand. “It's – this is what I have at home,” she says, timidly.

“That is correct,” says Graham. “Everything you have in front of you is exactly what you have at your disposal when you're at home.”

“We want to see you on a plate today for this first challenge, so what better than seeing what you can do with ingredients most familiar to you?” asks Joe.

“You will have one hour to make us a restaurant quality dish that shows us who you are. Are you ready?” asks Gordon.

“Yes Chef!”

“Your time starts....now.”

There is suddenly a flurry of activity. Blaine pulls everything he's going to need for his dish from the box. Anything left over from the mystery box he throws into the box itself and puts it aside. Everyone around him is getting ready themselves: pulling out pans, going to the cupboard for heavier equipment, and pulling out utensils.

The judges start to mill around the room about fifteen minutes into the challenge, asking everyone what they're making. It's Graham that comes up to him, looking down at him with a smile. “I should start out by saying that if this competition was based off wardrobe, I'd pick you to win,” he says. “I feel like I need that bowtie on today.”

Blaine smiles and reaches up to touch his bowtie. It's one of his favorites – and reversible. He laughs. “Thank you, Chef. Let's hope my dish is just as good as my choices on fashion today then.”

“What are you making today, Blaine?”

Blaine describes the dish. “I'm cooking something that is fairly simple actually. Chicken, rice and some mixed vegetables. I don't want to do anything too crazy my first time around and over complicate things. I hope you'll like the flavors, though.”

“And what sort of flavors are you putting into this? You're right, it does sound very simple,” says Graham.

“The chicken is going to be marinated with both sriracha and teriyaki sauce. I'm doing fried rice with fresh carrots and I'm going to be doing grilled asparagus.”

Graham is nodding. “It seems like you're off to a good start. Playing it a bit safe might be a good idea here.”

“I figure it doesn't matter if I don't wow you this first time around,” says Blaine honestly. “As long as I can get through to the next round, right?”

Graham nods. “I think that's a good plan, Blaine. So far everything smells delicious. That sriracha – my mouth is already watering!”

“Thank you,” says Blaine, feeling a bit more confident.

Blaine tries to keep his eyes and mind on his own cooking and not look around him as he works. He doesn't want to be discouraged by what other people are doing, or distract himself.

He has to sort of scramble to plate in a hurry. The end of the hour snuck up on him. He gets it done, however, and Blaine thinks it doesn't look half bad as he puts his hands into the air as the judges call the time.

The judges all go around, taking one last look at their dishes. Graham and Joe had come by to taste his dish when he was still cooking and he really hopes that his is good enough to be in the top three.

The judges to back to the front. “We have selected the top three dishes, which we will now sample and see who will win this first Mystery Box,” says Gordon. “The first of the three is....Jesse.”

Jesse looks like a peacock as he picks up his dish and walks to the front. Blaine notes that he's made some sort of high quality burger.

The judges really like the flavor of it, but note that his side could use some work. “Though of course the burger is the star, you still want people to clear the plate.”

“The next person will be....Rachel.”

Rachel squeals when Joe calls her name. She picks up her plate and hurries to the front.  
“So,” says Joe, looking down at this with eyebrow raised. “So, I can only assume that this dish is completely vegan.”

“It is indeed,” says Rachel with confidence. “Obviously my kitchen only has vegan items in it, so my mystery box was vegan friendly.”

“I'm a little scared, to be honest,” says Joe. The plate is beautiful placed. It's Rainbow zucchini rolls with peppery beet dressing. It's colorful and vibrant. Blaine is actually curious to taste it himself.

Joe picks up one of the rolls and dips it into the sauce and takes a bit. He sighs deeply when he swallows, looking disappointed.

“I'm ashamed to say, as an Italian....that I love this,” he says and Rachel, whose face had fallen a been of confidence, bounces up again, clapping her hands.

All the judges love the dish, actually, and Rachel boasts that she'll convert them all to vegans soon enough.

“As long as steak exists, my dear, I fear that is impossible,” says Gordon.

Rachel hurries to Jesse, hugging him closely and standing next to him.

“The last of our top three will be....” Gordon says, pausing dramatically. Blaine's heart beats quickly in his chest. He wants it so badly to be him... “Kurt.”

Beside him, Kurt smiles softly and picks up his plate. Blaine still claps, but he can't help but be disappointed.

“Kurt, what a lovely plate,” says Gordon as he sets down the plate. “Would you please describe it.”

“I have a pasta with a light sauce, where I used a wine reduction, tomatoes and grilled shrimp.”

Gordon picks up a fork and takes a bit. He nearly moans. “Well, that has to be one of the strongest first dishes I've ever tasted.” Kurt smiles and thanks him at that.

But it's when Joe walks up where Kurt looks a little nervous. Serving the Italian pasta, after all, is where it could go wrong.

Joe looks at him judgmentally as he takes a bite, chewing slowly. Then he nods. “I would not be ashamed at all to call this my own dish, Kurt.”

Blaine can see how pleased that makes Kurt. “Thank you, chef,” he says proudly.

“I think everyone needs to watch out for you,” says Joe, taking another bite. “Not only are you talented, but you are cool headed. I didn't see you sweat once during this challenge. You were in control the whole time. Not many other people today can say the same.”

After deliberating, the judges come back to announce the winner.

“The winner of the first Mystery Box Challenge, and who will be coming to the pantry with us to be told their major advantage, will be....Kurt.”

Kurt looks pleased. Rachel hugs him and he shakes Jesse's hand (though Jesse looks pissed off), and turns to the judges. “Kurt, follow us.”

Blaine sighs, looking down at his plate. Well, now he just has to make it through the double elimination.

Ten minutes later Kurt and the judges return from the pantry and he's wearing what Blaine can only describe as a shit eating grin.

This is not going to be good.

///

Kurt is breathless at the sight of the Masterchef pantry.

It's filled with nothing but apples.

“As you can probably see, Kurt, the elimination challenge has to do with apples,” says Graham in a teasing tone.

“I can see, yes,” says Kurt.

“Your first advantage today is that you will not have to cook in the elimination,” says Gordon. “And for your second....” He pulls out a cloth bag that seems to be filled with something. “You will get to choose who gets to join you on the balcony.”

Kurt nods. He's going to like this.

They go out to the other contestants again and Kurt stands near the front. The judges say that he's safe from today's elimination, then drop the bomb: They'll be making apple pies and Kurt gets to choose seven people to keep safe as well.

“Kurt will now walk around the room and give out his apples. If you get one, make your way up to the balcony, where Kurt will shortly join you,” says Joe.

Kurt walks slowly toward them all, grinning. He has to be strategic about this. He decides to pick the people he thinks are fairly strong already, just to weed out the weaker ones. He'll leave a few strong people out on the field, just to make things interesting.

He begins by giving Rachel an apple. She smiles and hurries upstairs. Next he gives one to Will, because Kurt thought his dish was strong and probably could have been in the top three. Next is Adam and Sheldon.

He stands in front of some people, stops, then walks away just when they get their hopes up. He stops in front of Blaine, the guy who is closest to him at his station, and holds an apple up teasingly. Blaine looks a little confused, unsure if he should reach out or not.

Kurt passes him by and gives it to Sam, who is behind him.

/Interview/

Blaine: For a second there, I really thought I was safe. I guess I should have known better. Kurt obviously isn't here to make friends. He's here to win. I'm just waiting for someone to knock him down a peg.

Santana: Well ****. Okay, Princess, I see how it is. Good thing my spiced apple pie is something people would kill for.

/Interview/

He finishes up by giving an apple to both Artie and Millie. Artie makes a joke about the stairs.

“Uh, tell me there's an elevator?” Everyone laughs.

Thankfully there is, though no one has ever noticed it when watching the show at home before. Kurt follows Artie up and takes his place at the balcony, looking down at a bunch of pissed off, nervous faces.

Watching from above is pretty interesting. It's a good view of everything and Kurt is glad he gets a break and doesn't have to cook. He makes a mean apple pie, but he'd rather not leave things to chance.

When the challenge is over, the judges sample everyone's pie.

Holly and Bryan's are apparently atrocious. Holly threw in some blueberries as well and they were too sour to be a good addition.

Quinn brings up one of the most gorgeous pies Kurt has ever seen and it's a no brainer that it tastes as amazing as it looks. They love Santana's pie as well, along with the added spice she's incorporated.

Blaine walks up, looking disappointed. It doesn't look pretty at all. He's tried to do a lattice and it just crumbled too much.

Gordon sighs when he picks up the pie and looks at the bottom. “Yes, a bit raw as I feared,” he says.

Blaine sniffs, getting teary. Being in the hot seat with Gordon isn't something Kurt ever wants to be in.

Gordon takes a bite and nods. “Your flavors are solid. The bottom of the pie is just raw and you really need to work on your presentation. Oh god, don’t give me those big sad eyes.”

“No, I’m sorry, I – I know I need this feedback. I do.” Blaine reaches up and wipes at his eyes. “I am sorry. I guess it was just too much to handle at once this time.”

“Our job here is not to make you feel badly about yourself when you mess up. It’s about giving you the knowledge you need to never make the same mistake again,” says Gordon gently.

“I understand, I do,” says Blaine, nodding stiffly. He still looks disappointed.

/Interview/

Kurt: God, how lucky is Blaine? He flashes his sad puppy eyes and gets whatever he wants. A raw pie doesn't make you a Masterchef.

/Interview/

The first thing the judges do is award the best pie, which belongs to Quinn. With her pretty yellow dress and neatly placed pearls, Kurt wouldn't be surprised if she made apple pies as she slept.

Then comes to bottom three, which consists of: Holly, Bryan and Azimio, whose pie was soggy on the bottom. Of them, Holly and Bryan are the first to go home.

Everyone watches as they take off their aprons and set them on their stations, then leave through the doors.

It's then that they wrap filming for the day.

The way back to the hotel is filled with both excited conversation and exhausted expressions.

They eat dinner together after going to their rooms to freshen up for an hour or so. Kurt sits off to the side, near Rachel but not joining into her conversation with Jesse. Then he's aware that Blaine is standing near him, wearing a kind smile.

“So, that was pretty intense today,” he starts off.

Kurt raises an eyebrow.

“I just – um – I wanted to let you know that I don't take today personally, I know it's strategy and everything,” Blaine says.

“Okay?” says Kurt.

At his tone, Blaine raises an eyebrow. “Unless...unless you do mean it personally, in which case I guess I am offended?”

“Look, Blaine, I'm here to win. Sorry. It doesn't really matter what I have to do to do that and honestly, not saving you from elimination isn't a big deal,” says Kurt with a shrug.

“Well, it is when you sort of dangled it in front of me,” says Blaine. “Kurt, you can win and not be rude about it.”

Kurt doesn't say anything to that. Blaine huffs and walks away, going to sit next to Sam nearby.

Kurt tries not to feel the burn on his neck when he does. It's not like Kurt wants to be a bitch about this, he just can't afford to be friendly. He wants to win. He learned when he first moved to New York that his small town politeness wouldn't get him far. He never had friends in high school anyway, so he was better off alone in New York as well. The fashion industry especially is ruthless and cutthroat and sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. He isn't afraid to make enemies at work and he feels like it should be the same way here. It wasn't personal, no matter what Blaine said. He doesn't want to be mean and have the American audience hate him, but he needs to care less about what his competition thought of him if he is going to be free of distractions.

It’s a shame. Blaine is cute and has excellent taste in clothing, though it’s a bit preppy for Kurt personally. He wouldn't have minded being friends with someone like Blaine outside this competition. But honestly, with the way Blaine performed today, he won't be around for much longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the positive feedback! Here is the second chapter.

The next day, the wake up call for the contestants is extremely early, since they're going to be taking a bus to an off site location. Kurt isn't too bothered by this, as he usually wakes up around 5:30 in the morning each day so he can squeeze in some yoga and pushups before going to work. So his roommate Sam, who though technically underage is celebrating his 18th in a week so the higher ups decided he didn't have to have a guardian around for that first week, almost trips on him when he finally gets out of bed after the third time his alarm goes off.

“Sorry, small space,” says Kurt when he does. “I already made coffee if you need it,” he says, stretching again, then getting ready for pushups.

Sam rubs at his eyes and yawns. “God, at least having a morning person as a roommate has some perks.” Sam stumbles over to the small counter with a pot of coffee on it. He mixes in a bit too much sugar and takes a sip, sighing happily. Then he turns back to Kurt. “So are you nervous for today?”

Kurt's a little out of breath from pushups, but answers. “No, why?”

“Well I mean, you're gonna be a team captain today – for the first challenge. Lost of pressure,” says Sam.

Kurt shrugs. “I'm not too worried. I just have to keep my head straight.”

Sam nods and finishes the small cup of coffee. “And no hard feelings if you don't pick me for your team or anything. I mean. Roommate loyalties only get you so far.” He shrugs. “Okay. Shower time. You can finish up the bendy thing and stuff.”

“It's yoga.”

“Okay, sure,” he says, heading to the bathroom.

Kurt does finish up after his pushups and picks out his clothes for the day and is ready to shower once Sam comes out of the bathroom. They both rush down to the lobby together since Kurt took a little longer to do his hair than usual and board the small bus that's waiting.

Kurt sits near the front by himself and puts in his earbuds, turning on his Broadway Power Ballad playlist to get pumped and continue to think about who he wants to pick for his team on the way. It has to be the perfect team and he has to anticipate any curve balls the judges may throw at them.

When they get there, there is actually Fort Irwin and already Kurt is starting to buzz. They're feeding soldiers, they have to be obviously.

The judges show up on jeeps and tell them that yes, they are feeding 300 soldiers today and that Kurt will be the Red team captain for winning the first Mystery Box challenge and Quinn is Blue team captain for having the best pie. They walk up and get their team captain aprons and Graham tells Kurt that he gets to pick his first person.

“Rachel,” he says confidently. Though she's a vegan, the girl is talented. She claps excitedly and goes up to get her apron.

“Sebastian,” says Quinn cooly. Sebastian, who Kurt already doesn't really like from his brief time talking to him over the last few days, ambles over to Quinn.

Kurt picks Jesse next, Quinn picks Sam, Kurt picks Adam, Quinn picks Emma. So far Kurt has gotten pretty much everyone he wanted. Though Sebastian is good, he never would have wanted to work with him and Kurt would have picked Sam later on if Quinn hadn't gotten him as her second pick. So Kurt gets Will and Sheldon while Quinn picks Santana and Millie.

Then there are four left. Azimio, Tina, Artie and Blaine.

Kurt isn't really sure who he wants next, so he picks Azimio. He did pretty well with his Mystery Box yesterday as far as Kurt could tell, though when Kurt picks him Azimio sort of rolls his eyes as he takes the apron from him. Maybe it won't be the best decision.

Quinn then picks Tina and there are only two. Kurt gets to decide for both him and Quinn.

He thinks for a moment. Both of them are alright cooks, but he isn't sure how much Artie will be able to do in the challenge. Then he thinks of the conversation he and Blaine had last night at dinner and...there is no way they'll be able to work together well after that.

“Artie,” Kurt says. Artie exchanges a look with Blaine, then wheels up to get his red apron from Kurt. Blaine has turned a bit red now and looks like he's holding his breath.

“Well then, that leaves Blaine for Quinn's blue team,” says Gordon. But before he invites him up to get his blue apron, Gordon asks him. “Last pick, Blaine, how do you feel about that?”

Blaine puts on an obvious front. “I’m feeling okay, Chef. I just haven’t gotten to show everyone how good of an asset I can be yet,” he says, trying to look taller.

From the row of Blue team members Sebastian yells out in a flirty tone, “Good assets for sure!”

Blaine pauses for a moment, then laughs and playfully smacks his ass and god, what an asset it is. Kurt frowns. The rest of the contestants and judges laugh at the exchange and Blaine finally walks up to get his apron from Quinn.

/Interview/

Blaine: I mean, Kurt is really saying something by picking the guy in a wheelchair over me, isn’t he? Don’t get me wrong, Artie is an amazing cook and I would want him on my team as well – but wow.

Kurt: I'm just trying to make a winning team. Stepping on a few toes is going to happen.

Sebastian: Kurt is crazy, honestly. I mean – look at Blaine. Even if he doesn't cook that well he's good to look at. Might as well have him on your team.

Artie: It definitely doesn't feel good to be one of the last picks, but I think both myself and Blaine will show everyone we're not last picks.

/Interview/

 

They split into their teams and start planning what they want to make. In the Red team Kurt takes control quickly.

“I'm thinking a healthy serving of fried chicken with cole slaw and mashed sweet potatoes will really wow the judges,” he says.

“Sweet potatoes?” asks Adam with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“They could be really amazing if we nail it,” Kurt says. “And we wouldn't be playing it safe. Plus if we have a good seasoning on the chicken....who do you think would be able to cover that?”

“There ain't no one that makes better fried chicken than me,” says Azimio confidently. “I got that covered.”

“Okay. Awesome,” says Kurt. “Rachel and I will get started on the cole slaw, Jesse and Sheldon can help out Azimio on the chicken. Adam and Artie can get started on the potatoes. Will will be there for anyone who needs some extra help and then will handle plating near the end.”

/Interview/

Kurt: My step-brother is in the Air Force and – I really want to win this challenge for him. Which means we have to wow.

Azimio: This prissy boy is definitely not gonna win over a bunch of soldiers with cole slaw and sweet potatoes, but I'm gonna make sure our chicken knocks off their boots and save the plate.

/Interview/

Over in the Blue team, Quinn originally suggests chicken as well.

“Do we really want to risk doing something raw, though?” Blaine brings up. Suddenly everyone is staring at him. “I mean. These challenges are pretty known for it. We're going to be in such a hurry...we don't want to serve something dangerous or get Gordon's rage for raw chicken. Maybe pork chops? If we have a good rub on them...” He trails off.

Then Quinn nods. “He's right,” she says. “Pork chops it is. What should we pair it with?”

“Baked beans and baked potatoes?” says Sam. “Give them a really substantial meal.”

“I like it,” says Quinn with a nod. “Any objections?”

“We should add some bacon to the beans,” says Millie with a hand raised. “The flavor really gets into the beans and it's just amazing.”

“Awesome,” says Quinn. “Let's do it! Okay. Blaine and Sam will handle the pork chops and rub. Emma and Santana on potatoes. Millie will be in charge of the beans along with Tina. I'll try to help everyone out. Then Emma I want your help with plating when it comes to it. Everyone set?”

They agree and start their prep time.

There is so much to do during the prep time and the Blue team definitely falls behind. The Red team seems to be on top of everything at least.

Then the soldiers start to show up. It's only ten minutes till they start serving and they have to go into high gear.

On the Red team Kurt and Will start to plate the chicken that's coming off the grill when disaster strikes.

“This is raw,” says Gordon, staring down at a Red team plate with a frown. He gets the other judges with him as they poke at the chicken. “Red team! Stop! Stop right now.”

The Red team stops in their tracks. “What the fuck is this?” says Gordon, holding up the plate. They don't know what to say. “That is stone cold fucking raw that's what it is. Do you want to kill these brave men and women today? They've survived war but you want to kill them with raw chicken.”

That's when everyone's blood runs cold on the Red team. They made one of the worst mistakes you can make in a challenge like this.

“Kurt! Who is on chicken?”

“Um, that's Azimio, Chef,” answers Kurt timidly.

He and Gordon go over to Azimio who is at the grill. “Stop! What are you doing?”

“I'm – I'm cooking the chicken, sir.”

“Like hell you are,” says Gordon. “This is unacceptable.” He turns to Kurt. “Straighten up your team and get the chicken off the plates you have already made up and make sure they're cooked. Jesus Christ!”

He stalks away and Kurt turns to Azimio, livid. “What the hell. I thought you were the best at making chicken.”

“I am!”

“Well raw chicken tells me you aren't.”

“Fuck you, fag,” says Azimio in a growl. Kurt bristles at the comment, knowing the camera nearby them that's filming will have to bleep that out, but probably keep it in for the drama of it.

“You can start cleaning up, Azimio,” says Kurt coldly. “Sheldon!”

Sheldon pops his head into the conversation. “Yes?”

“You're on chicken now. Please make sure everything is cooked.”

“Will do, captain,” says Sheldon. He stares at Azimio, who is still standing at the station. Azimio curses again and stalks away, looking pissed.

In contrast to the sinking Red team, the Blue team has finally found their pace. With only three minutes until plates start being served, they already have portions on their plates. Their pork is cooked to perfection, Blaine thinks smugly. He'd of course heard the debacle over at the Red team and was glad they didn't do chicken.

“Thanks for suggesting the pork,” says Quinn simply as he brings more of the protein over to her and Emma to plate. She looks stressed, but also relieved.

“You're welcome,” he says.

There aren't any other bumps on the Blue team to overcome thankfully, but on the Red team....

They run out of cole slaw with about fifty people left to serve, so the plates only have their chicken (which has caused a lot of hold ups in the line and at least twenty people have to pass them by with empty plates) and potatoes.

Kurt just prays that the people who got their whole plate think it tastes amazing and vote for them.

The last two soldiers are served and all they have left is to wait until everyone has eaten and voted.

Thirty minutes later they stand in front of the 300 soldiers and Kurt feels like he just might faint. He really wants to be confident, but he's pretty sure they did awfully.

/Interviews/

Kurt: I really wanted to win this for my step-brother and I don't think I did at all. We ran of of food which is just – not acceptable.

Artie: Honestly we were a hot mess today. I just hope it doesn't mean we're in the pressure test.

Quinn: I'm really proud of how my team did today. We kept our cool even when we were running behind and it paid off.

Blaine: Looking over to Kurt after how badly his team did today – I'm just hoping this takes him down a peg to be honest. And I bet he wishes I was on his team now.

/Interviews/

“The winner of the first team challenge....by a resounding amount is....the Blue team!” Gordon announces and everyone on the Blue team jumps up and shouts, hugging each other tightly. Sebastian slaps Blaine's ass and he really hopes they didn't get that on camera.

“Which means Red team, you will be performing in tomorrow's pressure test where one of you will be going home.” Joe nods at them. “Okay. Let's start clean up.”

The next day isn't as early as a call time, but Kurt wakes up early and sits on the balcony with a cup of coffee looking the sun get higher in the sky. Sam sleeps away, blissful, because at least he doesn't have to compete to save himself later today. Kurt sighs. He really screwed up yesterday.

When they get to the Masterchef kitchen they go to stand in front of the judges while the Blue team walks up to the balcony.

“Yesterday was rough, I think you all know that,” says Gordon with disappointment to the Red team. “Thankfully, though all of you made mistakes yesterday, not all of you will have to perform in the pressure test today.” They all start to look at each other. “Kurt. You can send three people of your team up to safety today.”

Kurt nods. “This person really saved the day yesterday. We would have probably lost even worse than we did if not for him. The first person I save is Sheldon.”

Sheldon hugs him tightly, tearing up, and walks up to the balcony.

“The next person I am saving, who did everything he was told and helped out wherever people needed it...Adam. I'm saving you next.”

Adam hugs him and goes up next.

“And for your last person? You can save yourself,” says Gordon.

Kurt shakes his head. “I let my team down, I let those solders down and I let my brother down, so I’m staying down here to make it up to them. Which is why I'll be saving Artie.”

Artie nods at him before going over to the elevator to join everyone at the balcony. Kurt lets out a long breath.

/Interview/

Azimo: This is bulls**t!

Will: I am really disappointed that I wasn't one of the people Kurt saved. I feel like I did a good amount yesterday to help our team. But those he did save...well. They did good. I'm just glad he didn't save himself.

Artie: Kurt might be a bit full of himself and has already made some enemies here, but at least he was able to admit when he did wrong. Not a bad guy.

/Interview/

The judges tell them that the pressure test today will be to make a perfect plate of Eggs Benedict in only thirty minutes. As soon as the time starts, everyone hurries to get their supplies out.

As they cook, the judges come up to talk to each of them, starting with Azimio.

“So yesterday was a very tense day,” says Joe as Azimio is pouring his hot water into a pot on the stove. “And today isn't any different. I know you and your team captain had your differences yesterday.”

“Yeah, because he sucked at leading,” says Azimio. “And I had things under control.”

“Your chicken was raw,” says Joe dryly. Azimio shrugs it off. “Do you think you'll be going home today?”

Azimio shakes his head. “No. I am not letting some fancy homo beat me at this game. No way, no how.” Joe raises his eyebrow at the slur and behind Azimio, Kurt hears every word.

/Interview/

Blaine: Kurt might not be my favorite person right now – but people spewing that sort of hateful comments like the ones Azimio is making just makes me sick. No one deserves that.

Kurt: I’ve dealt with people like Azimio all my life – telling me what I can and can not do because I’m gay. It doesn't bother me anymore, but it's something that is going to stop with this competition. I'm going to win and Azimio is going to go home. It's as simple as that.

/Interview/

Time is up and the five people competing bring their dishes up one at a time. Kurt is the first.

“So, Kurt, mistakes were made yesterday, we all know that. But it looks like Azimio has some, let's say, derogatory things to say about you today. Is there anything you'd like to say in return?” asks Gordon when he walks up to taste his food.

“He can say whatever he wants about me. He’s the one that is going to look like an idiot on national television with his close-minded ways,” Kurt says hotly. “Especially when I have the Masterchef trophy.”

Gordon cuts into his egg – and it's perfect. The sauce and everything else is perfection according to the judges, so Kurt knows he's saved himself.

Azimio has failed spectacularly at his egg. The yoke was cooked too much and the ham was rubbery to the judges.

Kurt gets an amazing sense of satisfaction when he's the first person the judges save and that out of the bottom two of Rachel and Azimio, Azimio is the one sent home with a bad attitude.

At least there is some justice in the world.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone is tense on the way back to the hotel after the pressure test. Blaine sees that a few people – Sheldon, Rachel, Santana – walk up to Kurt and give him some encouraging words.

“Hang in there, pumpkin, I know how it can be when people don't like who you are,” says Sheldon.

“I've seen my dads face a lot of hateful words over the years but it never gets any easier to see – I'm glad you came out on top today and showed him that his hateful words won't get him very far,” says Rachel.

“That guy was a dick. Thanks for shutting him down,” says Santana.

Blaine thinks about going up to talk to him, but honestly he's still upset about Kurt's attitude from the first day and decides against it. Besides, Sebastian has decided to really amp up the flirting game in the last day and hasn't left his side since they exited the kitchen, so he can't really get away if he tried. Thankfully he gets up to his hotel room, exhausted though he didn't have to cook today, and passes out before even his roommate gets up to the room.

The next day is another Mystery Box challenge and Blaine awakes, nervous. He can't help it. Coming off the Blue team victory makes him feel a bit better about the competition, but he's still worried.

It's the same old thing: get the bus to the Masterchef kitchen and wait for the judges to get there and they start to film. It's still a little new to everyone, but they're starting to learn the ropes of being on camera.

The judges introduce the second mystery box and tell them to lift their box and it's a lot of different kinds of pork under it.

Blaine looks to Rachel, who is looking at the box with her nose crinkled. He stifles a laugh.

“Your challenge today is to make a stunning dish where pork is the star. You'll have access to a limited pantry and just one hour to do this,” says Gordon.

Their time begins and Blaine already knows exactly what he's going to make. Traditional Filipino Pork Adobo, though plated to restaurant standards – and Blaine is going to throw in some garlic chips to accent the dish and hopefully bring it to the next level.

As he's readying his paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, and vinegar to marinate the pork, Gordon comes over and asks him what he's making. He nods as Blaine describes what he has in mind. “Good luck, Blaine,” he says and moves on to Kurt next to him.

Like last time, Blaine really tries to focus on what he's doing, but he does notice that both Tina and Adam are having difficult times with whatever it is they're trying to make. Blaine pushes on.

He's able to plate his food with time to spare and it looks amazing. He has a bed of white rice about an inch thick above the plate in the shape of a circle, the pork piled on top with garnish and the crispy garlic chips fit into the sides. On the plate around he drizzles some of the sauce over it and then it's perfect.

Time is up and the judges stand in front of them to begin selecting the top three. Santana is the first one called, who has pulled pork tacos with a cilantro sour cream sauce that all the judges rave about.

“It's just so fresh,” says Graham. “Clean tasting and not overpowering. You really did let the pork – which is just seasoned amazingly – shine.”

Then there's Kurt.

/Interviews/

Blaine: I'm already really tired of hearing Kurt's name being called for these things.

Tina: Kurt! I'm sensing a pattern here.

/Interviews/

Kurt walks up with a satisfied grin. He's made stuffed pork tenderloin with spinach and mushroom, with a side of diced potatoes.

“Wow, you can see just how perfectly this was rolled and sliced,” says Gordon with a nod as he examines Kurt's dish. He takes a bite. “Well cooked. Not dry in the least. The spinach was a good touch. The potatoes, though, could use a bit more salt.” Kurt nods at that and goes to stand next to Santana.

“And finally, the last of the top three is....Blaine.”

Blaine is shocked when Joe calls his name, but as everyone starts to clap, he picks up his dish and hurries up front with a huge grin.

“Okay Blaine, please describe the dish,” says Joe.

“This is a traditional Filipino dish, Pork Adobo, that I hope I brought up to restaurant quality for you,” says Blaine with a shy smile.

“Well it looks fantastic,” says Joe. “Really good job on plating here.” Then he takes a bite. He nods. “That pork – it's moist and the sauce is just -” He kisses his fingers. “Amazing.”

Graham walks up and takes a fork full, sniffing at it for a moment. “And Blaine, tell me why you decided to go with a Filipino dish tonight?”

And at first Blaine is a little confused by the question. “Because...I am? On my mother's side. I grew up on this cuisine and visiting the country when I was younger and having my relatives cook all sorts of things for me was always one of my favorite things. ”

Graham himself looks a little embarrassed at his question. “I'm so sorry. I guess I just assumed -”

“That I was white? You're not the first to make the mistake. It's okay. I – I don't particularly look it and neither does my brother. That was always...a struggle, I guess, growing up. People wondered why some 'white boy' was trying to cook Asian inspired dishes, but especially in this competition, I want to stay true to my heritage.”

“I think you have,” says Graham. “This is absolutely delicious. I almost don't want to let Gordon have any of it.”

Gordon, too, sings the praises of the dish and then Blaine goes to stand next to Kurt, a few feet away from him.

/Interviews/

Kurt: Every single year on this show there are a handful of the contestants with their ‘thing’ that they can’t break out of. The bakers that can’t do anything else and the people who cling to their style of cooking – in the past there have been the Italians and the Asian cultures and being a Masterchef is so much more than one style of making food, obviously. Blaine is just obviously one of those one trick ponies and he’ll be knocked out soon enough when he has to get outside his comfort zone and step away from that style of food.

Blaine: I'm so nervous I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest!

/Interviews/

“After much deliberation, we have finally picked the winner of today's Mystery Box challenge,” says Gordon. “It was not easy. All three of you had stunning dishes. But only one of you will be able to come with the three of us and gain an amazing advantage in the next elimination challenge.”

“And that person is....” Graham draws it out and Blaine wants to tell him to just hurry up. “Blaine!”

Blaine stands there in shock again, then his face bursts into a huge smile.

Blaine feels like he's walking on air when he follows the judges to the pantry.

“If there is one thing I love to eat whenever I'm on a coast, it's crab,” says Graham, and he pulls the lid off one of two plates sitting in front of him on the table. It's a fresh, very much alive, crab with its claws tied.

“An amazing thing to work with, fresh crab,” says Gordon. “However – not everyone has access to such a thing. This is an alternative.” He raises the lid of the second plate and it's – a can of crab meat.

Blaine grins.

“Today you will not have to cook,” says Joe. “However you will be picking which half of your competition will be cooking with fresh crab and which half will be forced to use the canned alternative.”

Oh, this is going to be good.

They walk out to the kitchen and Blaine goes straight to the balcony.

“As you can see, Blaine does not have to cook today. Instead he's picked who will be cooking what in today's elimination challenge. If you all make your way to the pantry, you will find a basket with your name on it including the ingredient you have been given by Blaine. Once you see what it is you will have ten minutes to gather your ingredients.” Gordon sends them on their way to the pantry.

When everyone gets to the pantry, they see that half of them have baskets with actual crabs while the other half have cans.

Blaine wishes he could see everyone's face.

A few highlights: He had decided that Kurt would get the can, obviously. Any disadvantage he can give him at this point will be good. He gave Rachel a live crab. Though he likes the girl, he knows that she is serious competition and since she's a vegan, he doubts she has experience killing a crab. He gave Sebastian the live crab. He's nice, though perhaps a little too touchy and over eager, but for now Blaine doesn't really want to see him go. His main focus is on Rachel and Kurt.

Everyone comes out to their stations ten minutes later, most looking disappointed in what they received. Rachel actually seems to be the only person upset by getting the live crab. She looks up to the balcony and sticks her tongue out at him and he laughs.

/Interview/

Kurt: Well, Blaine obviously knows I’m a threat and tried to trip me up with canned. Little does he know that I don’t always get the freshest things to cook with and have plenty of practice with canned food.

Millie: I might have been handed a disadvantage today, but nothing is really a disadvantage if you try hard enough, which is what I'm going to be doing today with this little can.

Rachel: Blaine is so mean oh my god! How am I supposed to kill this ugly, but still cute, little crab?

/Interview/

Blaine watches as everyone begins to cook. For the first ten minutes he just watches, holding back laughter, as Rachel squeals and whines about putting the crab in her boiling pot of water.

To his dismay, it looks like Kurt hasn't been shaken by the can he's dealt him, but in the end it doesn't really matter about how confident he is about it, it's still canned and he still has to deal with getting that taste on par with the fresh counterpart.

The hour is up rather quickly and the judges begin tasting everyone's dishes. Sebastian does well, as Blaine predicted. Tina's dish is actually spit out by Gordon and Blaine wants to cry for her – he'd even given her the fresh crab to help her out.

Quite a few of the people with canned crab have done well, actually. Millie creates a crab soup with fresh vegetables that all the judges praise her for. “You knew that you needed to get rid of that metallic taste that can cling to canned foods,” says Graham. “And putting it into a flavorful soup like this was your best decision. You can taste that crab, but it also has all these other flavors to add to it.”

Then there's Kurt.

“Describe your dish, using canned crab, please.”

“This is a fresh stacked crab and avocado salad,” Kurt says. Gordon takes a bite and nods.

“So, Kurt, I think we all know that there is a bit of a rivalry between yourself and Blaine already,” says Gordon when Kurt sets down his plate and god, Blaine can see it's beautiful from up here. “How does it feel to have a target on your back? Blaine tried to give you a disadvantage today.”

“It feels great. I means I’m winning,” he says with his chin up. Blaine rolls his eyes.

“And with this dish, you truly are,” says Gordon and Kurt smiles wider. “You definitely added good flavor to the meat itself, then pulled back on everything else. It's the perfect balance with the avocado and cucumbers. The taste of the light sauce you used was well done, very balanced. Overall, a solid dish. It's almost unbelievable that you were given the canned crab.”

When Kurt returns to his station, he looks up to Blaine and winks. Blaine sighs. Looks like Kurt is not being sent home today.

In the end it's Tina who goes home. Blaine hurries down the stairs to give her a tight hug and send her away. God, had that really backfired on him. He ended up sending a friend home instead of his real targets.

He'll get the best of Kurt one of these days.


	4. Chapter 4

For Blaine there is a high level of excitement and nerves on the drive to the location of the second team challenge. This time around the call time wasn't early in the morning, but instead in the early afternoon. Nevertheless, Blaine had woken up early due to nerves and couldn't go back to sleep.

He dressed and snuck out so he didn't wake Adam and went to work out at the hotel gym for an hour. He grabbed a shower back at his room (still hoping he didn't disturb Adam, still asleep). Then Blaine went down to eat breakfast, which wasn't much, once again due to his nerves making his stomach a mess. Mostly he had three cups of coffee.

Bad idea in retrospect.

After his second cup of coffee, Kurt was the first person (beside himself) to come down for breakfast. They both ignored each other.

Kurt got fresh fruit and granola with yogurt. Same as Blaine had, though his sat mostly untouched in front of him. He sat as far away from Blaine as he possibly could.

Blaine got up for another cup of coffee.

Back in the present, on the bus, they pull into the Warner Brothers Studio lot. The bus full of Masterchef hopefuls collectively loses it.

“What are we doing, you reckon?” asks Adam, sitting next to Blaine and peering out the window.

“Who knows,” says Blaine, tapping his toes.

When the bus parks and they get off, three golf carts with the WB logo are watching for them – each with a judge in the drivers' seat.

Blaine is grinning, despite how nervous he still is, as he hurries over to sit next to Graham in front of his golf cart. Adam, Rachel and Jesse sit tightly together behind them, Sheldon sitting on the seat in the back, facing the opposite direction.

They all drive through the lot, taking in the sites. The camera men have their own cart, which they use to film their reactions with. Blaine figures there might even be some cameras on the dashboards of the golf carts they’re in.

They finally park in a more open area, in between two different studios. The location already has their two kitchens set up along with rows of long tables and chairs.

Everyone piles off their golf carts and lines up on the instruction of the director. Then the judges get set up and they start filming.

“Today we are lucky enough to be guests on the famous Warner Brothers Studio Lot,” starts Gordon, looking thrilled. “And your team challenge today involves one of the shows filming on this very lot today.”

Everyone looks around at each other, grinning like idiots.

“Today you will be cooking for two hundred and three people. Two hundred of those people are the crew and audience of the show that is filming right now. The three other people will be....” Graham gives a dramatic pause. Blaine himself holds his breath. “Ellen DeGeneres and her two guests she is having on her show today.”

That's everyone's cue to freak out. Blaine actually jumps up and down a bit. God, he loves Ellen DeGeneres.

/Interviews/  
Blaine: Ellen DeGeneres is fantastic. She's funny, strong, and such a wonderful voice for the LGBTQ community. She can do no wrong.

Kurt: Ellen has always been a role model. She's very upfront about who she is. Also her and Portia are the ultimate relationship goal.

Rachel: Whenever I get famous, I always imagined that Ellen's show would be one of the first big television interviews of my career. This is going to be quite the funny anecdote when I finally am on the show!

/Interviews/

“Yes, you will be cooking for the crew – and audience – of the Ellen Show today,” says Joe, looking smug. “Now people like Ellen and her guests, they're going to be hard to impress. They're used to some of the best food in the world. We're hoping you can deliver.”

“Oh – and one more thing,” says Gordon with a grin. “Your dishes today. They have to be vegan friendly, as Ellen herself is vegan.”

Beside Blaine, Rachel throws her hands in the air. “Woo!” Everyone laughs, including the judges.

“Yes, Rachel, I feel like today whatever team has you will have an advantage.”

Blaine himself thinks: I need her on my team.

/Interviews/

Blaine: Rachel is the most valuable person to have on your team right now. She knows how to make vegan friendly items that taste good enough to appeal to non-vegans.

Santana: God, I bet Berry is eating this up.

Sheldon: I don't know the first thing 'bout making vegan food! I'm from Texas. The closet you get to vegan is keepin' your best pig as a pet.

/Interviews/

“Let's get started shall we? Our blue team captain today is Blaine and our red team captain is Millie, who had the best dish in the previous pressure test. Come on up, please,” says Gordon. Blaine and Millie walk up and are handed their aprons with “team captain” on the front in white lettering. Blaine's hand shake as he accepts his.

“Blaine, you will be going first, you make pick your - “

“Rachel!”

Graham doesn't even get to finish his sentence. The judges laugh and Rachel practically skips up to accept the blue apron, grinning madly.

“Wow, didn't see that coming,” laughs Graham. “Okay, Millie, your turn.”

“I'll be picking Kurt,” says Millie. Kurt nods and walks up to get the apron.

In the end, Blaine picks Adam, Sheldon, Jesse, Sebastian and Sam. The red team is made out of Kurt plus Santana, Artie, Quinn, Will and finally Emma, who is selected last, but takes it in stride.

“You have your teams,” says Gordon. “You now have one hour to prep and start your cooking before the filming ends for the day and your guests will line up to get food.”

Blaine and his team circle up as soon as Gordon gives the signal to start. “Okay Rachel,” he says, turning to her. “It's all you. What should we make?”

Rachel thinks for a moment, then nods. “A nice vegan burger. Put a spicy vegan mayonnaise and greens on it, then a side of potato wedges. They are filling and if you do it right, they can be just as juicy as a real burger.”

“That sounds fantastic,” says Blaine. “Okay uh, let's see. Jesse, Rachel and Sebastian work on the burgers. They need to be out of this world to win over everyone. Sheldon, you take point on the potatoes. Sam will help with peeling. Adam and I will help out wherever needed after we get the greens prepared, then we'll plate.”

Everyone seems confident and they get started with their ingredients.

Over at the red team, Millie surveys the group – none of which have that much experience with vegan dishes.

“I did have a vegan taco once,” says Quinn. “It's not too hard. Some squash, tofu and black beans. We just have to nail the spices.”

“Mexican food is pretty safe for vegetarians too,” adds Santana. Everyone had looked at her as soon as Quinn said “spices.” “People don't really notice if there isn't meat in something as long as it tastes good.”

“That sounds like a wonderful plan,” says Millie with an uplifting tone. It puts everyone at ease. She divides the work, letting Santana take some more leadership since her tastes will only serve to help them.

It's about 45 minutes in when the blue team hits their first snag. Only 15 minutes before the show lets out of filming and everyone is to be served.

Gordon has been walking around with the other judges, observing. Now he takes his first bite of the base for the burger patty.

He shakes his head.

“Blaine. Over here.”

Blaine looks up from the greens, looking to Adam with nerves before walking to Gordon.

“Have you tasted this yet?” asks Gordon. Blaine looks over and shakes his head.

“I – I haven't.”

“Why not?”

“I, um,” Blaine stutters. “I guess I was, uh, busy. With the prep.”

“As the leader you always taste food. Constantly tasting. You have to know if your team is producing quality work. Taste this.” Gordon gives him a spoon. Blaine tastes it and makes a face. “Does that taste like quality?”

“....no.”

“No. It's bland as.” Gordon sighs, rubbing his face. “You need to spice this. You need to do something or else you might as well be serving cardboard between two buns!”

“I – yes. Yes sir.”

Blaine wants to dig a hole and die.

Blaine turns back to his team when Gordon walks off. Everyone is staring at him. He doesn't know what to do.

He looks helplessly to Sheldon, who nods.

“Okay kiddos,” he says, clapping his hands together. “It's the last quarter and we're down by fifteen points. We need to pull it together if we're going to win this. Let me try some of this.” He tries the mixture, and nods. “Okay. Pepper. We need pepper and....”

Sheldon takes lead after that. Everyone knows about his past as a football coach, so it's no surprise he handles everyone well, not quite barking out orders, but not leaving any room for wiggle either. Soon the mixture tastes amazing.

Just as the crowds descend.

After the flavor fiasco, they're running behind. They have to plate up their food – thankfully the potatoes are on track – but their burgers....

Blaine just hopes the red team is doing worse.

Unfortunately, the red team runs smoothly. There is a tense moment when Quinn and Santana clash over something, but Millie steps in – in true mother form – and sends them to opposite ends of the kitchen to do different tasks. It's a tense silence after that for the most part, but their food is on track.

In fact Graham himself gushes over the mango salsa they made, along with the tofu which had been spiced to perfection.

Serving gets underway. The blue team is always playing catch up – in fact, they lose a few plates completely along the way waiting for their burgers to cook – but on a whole, things aren't a complete disaster.

Then their last three “customers” walk up.

The first is Ellen, of course, looking cool and collected in a crisp white shirt up and grey vest and black sunglasses tucked in the v of the neck.

“Well, this looks delicious!” she says, looking down at the red team's plate first. “Is it spicy?”

“Honey, if I made it my kind of spicy, I'd send more than half of these people to the emergency room,” quips Santana, winking. “So I toned it down a bit. But I think you'll like it.”

The second to last person, one of Ellen's guests, is Chris Pratt. Blaine just stops himself from drooling onto the plate in front of him when he hands it to him. He must be doing press for Jurassic World 2, thinks one part of Blaine's brain.

“I uh, hope you like it,” he says, cheeks reddening.

“Well, can't say I've ever had a vegan burger,” says Chris with a grin. “But food is food, right?” Blaine nods fiercely.

The final guest they serve is Lady Gaga herself and Blaine looks over to Kurt, looking wide eyed and pale – well, paler than usual – at her. Her new album just dropped so it makes sense she'd be doing an interview and maybe a performance.

“Here's your food and – you're my queen, just saying,” he says quickly. She calls him sweet and okay, Blaine has to admit he gets where Kurt is coming from. How do you stand in front of someone like her and not freak out?

Now all there is to do is wait.

Everyone eats and then walks up to cast their vote by red or blue card with the Ellen logo into a box. At the very end, Lady Gaga ends up voting for the red team. Blaine looks over. Yeah, Kurt is just about to faint. But then Chris Pratt votes for the blue team, at which point Blaine vows to go see Jurassic World 2 in theaters ten times.

Finally Ellen walks up to cast her vote. They don't know who has the most votes at this point – it seems so neck and neck and they don't have an exact tally.

“I just want all the contestants to know,” she says, holding her cards in her hands. “That both meals were honestly so good. Really, it's hard to choose. I almost want to hire you all to come cook for me at all times,” she jokes. “But instead, I'm going to make everyone a winner today and both the red and blue teams will be leaving with an Ellen prize pack – multiple pairs of Ellen underwear included, don't worry.”

That makes everyone on both teams laugh and grin, jumping up and down. This day won't be totally awful, even if they don't win.

Blaine still really, really wants to win.

Ellen pretends to think about it some more, walking back and forth between the red and blue team boxes, before finally dropping one into the red team's. They go crazy, almost like they've won.

Then the judges leave as they count up the votes. Ten minutes later they are back to announce.

“It was a close one for sure,” says Gordon coming back. “Ellen, would you like to come over and announce the winner?”

He hands her a card. She looks over and reads it. Nods. “Well then, looks like.....the red team won by twenty-five votes! You're welcome.”

The red team really goes crazy after that. Hugging each other and jumping up and down. Blaine sees Kurt hurry over and request a selfie with Lady Gaga. Blaine looks down at the floor, utterly defeated.

He blew it. He couldn't even lead his team. Sheldon had to take over. It's his fault. Maybe if he had things together, they wouldn't have lost their edge and valuable votes that walked away empty handed.

“That means blue team, you will be competing in the elimination test,” says Graham. “We'll see you back at the Masterchef kitchen.”

The next day the blue team walks into the kitchen soberly, the excitement of yesterday worn off. Rachel had cried most of the night in Blaine's hotel room, sure she had disappointed vegans everywhere by not winning. Blaine assured her that wasn't true, but the only way to comfort her was for her to snuggle up, him and Adam binging her ice cream they ran down to buy at the grocery store down the street. Blaine didn't even try to mention it wasn't vegan friendly. He figured she must forget that when it came to stress eating.

The red team goes straight up to the balcony, while the blue team files into a line up front. This is where Gordon tells them – big surprise – that Blaine gets to save some of his team.

He first saves Sheldon, obviously.

“He took over the leadership role when I proved not to be ready for it,” says Blaine. “He saved us.”

Sheldon is teary eyed and hugs Blaine, lifting him off the ground, before going to the balcony. Then he saves Rachel, Sebastian and Sam, since all of them did so much work in getting them this far. “The margin would have been much bigger if not for them.”

He doesn't save himself.

“I have to take responsibility,” says Blaine.

So the only three who compete in the elimination challenge are Blaine, Adam and Jesse.

“Today you will be doing something that is incredibly difficult, even for seasoned chefs,” begins Joe. They've brought out a dish with a glinting, silver cover over it which he stands behind. “You will be making this.” He lifts the cover with a flourish and Blaine cranes his neck to see what it is. “Stuffed ravioli....from scratch.”

Blaine looks to Adam and Jesse, who immediately look nervous. He feels his chest swell. He could actually get through this elimination challenge after all.

“That means you'll be making the dough, making the stuffing, and sealing them yourself,” says Joe with a grin. God, he really does love making people try to make authentic Italian food, doesn't he?

Well Blaine has a surprise for all of them.

They get to choose whatever stuffing they want, so Blaine goes simple: cheese and spinach. They aren't allowed to do a sauce – they're only being judged on their ability to make the ravioli itself.

The hour is tense, even for Blaine, who has done this time and time again at home. The stakes are bigger, after all. This isn't just making dinner with his dad and grandma, on his father's side, it's for the judges – one of them being Joe.

The time is up and Blaine looks down at his three perfect raviolis – and is confident. One after another they go up to get their food sampled.

Jesse's ends up okay. Joe says his technique isn't perfect – in fact one is barely staying together – but the pasta is cooked correctly and his stuffing is apparently fantastic.

Adam....poor Adam. His raviolis are falling apart and raw. Adam casts his head down, as if knowing he's going to be sent home. Blaine feels bad for his roommate; he'd much rather Jesse had messed up big time. He's too full of himself for his own good.

Blaine walks up finally, nervous despite knowing his plate is perfect.

Joe takes a bit, chewing it over silently. He asks Blaine questions about the stuffing before praising the dish.

“It's like you've been making these for years,” says Joe. “I saw you as you put them together. It wasn't so much concentration as poised attention on your face. Very practiced.”

“I have been making them for years,” Blaine admits. “Well – my dad's Italian and I learned things from him and his family too! My grandma is originally from Italy.”

That makes Joe's eyes light up. He asks what part and Blaine answers, then Joe says something in Italian and Blaine replies with his own – though he's always been told he's pretty awful at speaking Italian. His grandma doesn't mind, though; Cooper had been so awful he only knows how to ask where the bathroom is.

Blaine is the first person announced safe. He goes up to the balcony feeling a weight fall off his shoulders.

He promises then that if he's ever a team captain again, he'll try harder to be better for his team.

Jesse is announced safe next and Adam is sent home. He's upset, of course, but he's very gracious about it as he puts his apron away and walks out the door.

Blaine goes up to their room afterwards to find Adam finishing up packing. Adam smiles sadly at him.

“Well, looks like you'll have a room to yourself,” he says, zipping his suitcase.

“I wish I didn't,” says Blaine.

“It's fine, Blaine. I wasn't good enough – but it doesn't mean I won't get better, you know?” says Adam. He shrugs. “No go ahead and beat everyone at this and win, okay roomie?” Blaine laughs and nods. They hug close. Adam mentions he'll probably go back home for a while to visit his family before heading back to New York, where he's been living since school.

When he leaves, the room is quiet and weirdly empty.


	5. Chapter 5

Kurt wakes up a bit later that morning than he wanted to. He'd fallen asleep reading over a new cookbook he'd picked up down the street (he told himself he wasn't making notes in his head about what he'd do for his own cookbook, because he had so much further to go in the competition to get that ahead of himself) and thus, forgot to set an alarm.

He has to skip his yoga and instead showers and gets ready for the day. He's just about to leave for breakfast when Sam rolls out of bed to grab a pair of jeans and shirt, saying, “wait up!” as he opens the door.

“You and my brother are too similar for comfort,” he says as he stands, holding the door and waiting for him to slip into a pair of shoes. At least he's stopped blushing at the sight of Sam in boxers – the only thing he slept in every night. Plus Sam was too young, too....well. It was weird.

“I wanna meet him,” says Sam. “One day. He seems like a cool dude.” As they walk down the hall, Sam uses his hands to comb out his hair. It's actually unfair that it looks good after he's finished.

“He'd love you. Especially your cooking. He always says mine is too healthy most of the time – though he has a minimum of two helpings of everything.”

Sam pulls him over to a larger group eating breakfast when they get their food and smiles into his coffee as Sam makes impressions between huge bites of eggs and bacon.

“Aw, Blaine, you look so down.” Kurt looks up at Rachel's voice. At the end of the table Blaine is looking quite sadly at his oatmeal. He sighs and shrugs at Rachel. “It's not your fault Adam was sent home, Blaine. If anything it was me -”

“Rachel, seriously, your ideas the other day were solid,” says Blaine. “It was my fault. And Adam....”

“The room is a bit quieter, isn't it?” says Will, almost musing. His roommate, Bryan, had been sent home the first day after all.

“Yeah,” says Blaine.

“You'll get used to it, I'm sure,” says Emma. She's just finished pulling out her own silverware (she said the first day she doesn't trust hotel cutlery). “Of course, I have no idea how I would have lived another day with that – that Holly woman.” She shutters. Emma is so organized and put together, whereas Holly had been...a hurricane with two legs.

“I guess,” says Blaine, shrugging. Kurt takes his eyes away from him again, sipping at his coffee.

Today is a mystery box challenge, which always makes Kurt's stomach flutter with nerves. It's the idea of not knowing what will be under that box that has his mind going in a million different directions.

Finally Gordon tells them to lift their boxes and Kurt does, along with everyone else....to confusion.

It's empty.

“Oh dear,” says Gordon with a tisk. “We have a few special guests that are going to pick out your mystery boxes today. And they wouldn't fit into that box, though they are rather tiny.”

Graham calls to where the doors are behind them. “You can come out now!” Everyone turns.

The door opens slowly and then.....three eight year olds run out into the kitchen, to where the judges are. Along the way contestants – like Sam and Blaine – reach out to give them high fives as they walk by. Everyone is grinning and laughing at the sight of the kids.

“Everyone, this is Jamie,” says Gordon, gesturing to the young boy with messy blond hair in front of him.

“This is Alexis,” says Graham, to the girl in front of him. She curtseys, which is just adorable.

“And Daniel,” says Joe finally, to the boy in front of him wearing an outfit Kurt is honestly proud of himself.

“You don't have anything in your mystery box today,” says Gordon. “Because it is Jamie, Alexis and Daniel who will be putting together your box of ingredients. In just a moment, we'll let them into the pantry for ten minutes and they can grab whatever they want. You will be using that, plus your staple box of ingredients to make us a restaurant quality dish.”

/Interviews/

Kurt: I'm....sort of terrified at what these kids will pick. I hope I'm not going to have to make chicken nuggets or something.

Blaine: This is hands down my favorite mystery box. I love kids! I'm a teacher and I'm pretty good with making them things that they like, but that are good for them too. Snack time is a pretty big deal when I teach.

Santana: Sorry, mama don't like kids until they are at least this high [she gestures to just above her chest]

Sam: I love cooking for my brother and sister, who are around the same age as these three kids, so I think this will be interesting. They like to pick out random things and having me make something with them, too!

/Interviews/

“Are you kids ready?” asks Graham. All three kids nod their heads with excitement and when the judges give them the go ahead, they run to the pantry.

Ten minutes later the kids return and put their loaded basket up on the table for the judges to sort through and name a few of the ingredients.

“Well, we have a winner here, I think,” says Gordon. “Let's see what we have...oh look, a dragonfruit. Why did you guys pick this?”

“It's pretty,” says Alexis. Everyone laughs. Gordon asks her if she knows what it even is and she shrugs.

There is also an artichoke, a full fish because the boys agreed it was “gross” looking, an aubergine, bananas, kiwi, mushrooms, strawberry and more.

It was a weird collection. They mostly picked things because of the way they looked, not thinking about pairing them up together. The judges let the kids leave and then speak to the contestants again: they have an hour to make something out of these weird ingredients.

Kurt decides to go sweet immediately. With the fruits to choose from, it's a no brainer. The only thing is what he's going to make is a dragonfruit and strawberry jelly and he has to prepare everything quickly and let the jelly set if it's going to be anything more than liquid.

He works quickly, slicing the dragonfruit into small squares. He's done preparing everything in ten minutes and runs it to the refrigerator to set. Then he comes to make his soft cream for the top of the dish. After that....he has nothing to do but wait for it to set.

The judges come by, asking him questions. “You don't have anything else to do?”

“Just pray it sets in time, chef,” he says. They wish him luck.

He looks around the room at what people are making. Everyone is looking pretty good, honestly. There are a few people – Will, Sheldon, Millie – whose items look....weird. He's not sure why they are pairing some of the flavors, but shrugs. Beside him, Blaine is actually doing pretty well. He's doing scallops, another thing the kids must have picked at random. He also has a dragonfruit beside him and Kurt is confused, wondering why the two are going together....

Finally two minutes before the time is up, Kurt goes to get his jello....

It's miraculously set. He breathes out and hurries over to put the finishing touches of his cream and strawberries and more dragon fruit on top.

Blaine's dish is the first one picked for the top three. In the end he's made seared scallops topped with a dragonfruit salsa. It looks beautiful, Kurt has to admit, though the judges do question the combination at first. Then they try it and it's amazing.

“The mix of flavors is really refreshing,” says Gordon. “I know many wouldn't have thought to put these two together. It really pays off.”

Next Sam is chosen. He has made an asparagus, artichoke and mushroom saute that the judges adore, because they can't stop raving over the flavors at work.

Then finally, Kurt is called. He's thrilled.

“You took a chance today, because you got all your real work done in the first twenty minutes,” says Joe, looking at his dish, put into a clear dessert glass. “Then you had to let the cold do its work.”

All three say it's beautiful and when they finally take a bite, they love the taste. His desserts are usually such a strong point to him and he hasn't gotten to show that off yet.

It's a close one, according to the judges, but in the end Sam is the one who wins and goes to the pantry to get his advantage. Kurt looks over to Blaine when Sam has gone.

“Your, uh, dish looked good,” says Kurt quietly. Blaine blinks, surprised, at him.

“Thanks,” he says. “Yours too.” Then they go back to their station to clean up.

Sam comes back, safe from competing, and the judges also tell them that for their elimination test that Sam has picked one of three things for everyone to work with. They have to go into the pantry and find their name with the ingredients.

Sam gave Kurt ham, which okay, could work fine. He usually makes ham for Christmas dinner after all. It is just difficult to think of a way to elevate it. The other two to choose from would have been more exciting – ahi tuna and dungeness crab – and can easily be transformed into a quality dish. Kurt isn't sure if Sam is being nice at giving him an easy ingredient or is aware that, roommates or not, Kurt is a threat and gave him something that might not stand out to the judges.

Kurt tries to not overthink it and goes back to trying to find other ingredients in the pantry to make his dish. He decides the only way to make this elevated is to go almost simple with eggs benedict, adding asparagus as well.

His dish, in the end, looks like what you would find at any higher end brunch. The eggs are cooked to perfection and the judges say they like it.

“I just find myself wanting more from you,” says Gordon. “You cook so well and I know you could do better. Perhaps Sam gave you a weakness today – something just too simple.”

Blaine makes a seared ahi tuna dish with salad and avocado that they dishes like, though he just barely overcooked the tuna.

The strongest two dishes go to Emma – who made a carrot soup with crab – and Quinn – who in turn also had crab, pairing it with an avocado and tarragon mousse which made for a beautiful plated dish.

The person to go home this time was Millie, whose ham dish was a disaster. Everyone is sad to see her go – because Millie was always nothing but nice to everyone – but she says she's happy to be going back home to see her daughter.

Kurt rubs at his eyes when the shooting stops, the words of the judges playing over and over in his mind.

He has to try harder.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Challenge!

Blaine is nervous the next day when they get into the bus to drive to the next team challenge. Everyone is visibly upset to have lost Millie the day before: she really was like the group's mom the whole time, but Blaine knows she must be ecstatic to be seeing her daughter Marley again now.

When they finally pull up into a parking lot, it's one just off the beach and everyone hurries off the bus, moods suddenly lifted. How can they not be when you can see the blue skies and hear the waves breaking?

The judges are waiting for them, of course – with three food trucks painted with red, blue and yellow.

“Today, as you might have gathered, is going to be a food truck challenge,” says Gordon with a grin.

“But it's not just two teams that will be competing today – it's three,” says Graham.

“And only one team will be winning today – based off how much money you can make in two hours of food service – while the other two teams will be facing the pressure test back at the Masterchef kitchen.”

Everyone is excited, regardless of the curveball of a third team; it rarely ever happens and might actually even the odds a bit.

“Your team captains today will be Emma, for the red team, and Quinn for the Yellow team, for having the two best dishes in the last elimination challenge. Finally your blue team captain will be Sam, for his work in the mystery box challenge,” says Gordon.

“Will you please all step forward to get your aprons and choose your teams?” asks Joe. The three go forward, Emma looking terrified next to Quinn and Sam.

“Sam, you'll be picking first, then Quinn and finally Emma.”

“Kurt,” says Sam quickly and he throws the balled up blue apron to Kurt when he walks up. Kurt catches it looking a little surprised.

Quinn looks calculating. Finally, she says, cooly, “Santana.”

Santana looks surprised as everyone else – the two women hadn't exactly been getting along throughout the competition. In fact, besides Kurt and Blaine and Jesse and Sebastian, they probably had the most competition between each other.

/Interviews/

Santana: It's obvious that Quinn knows that I am a force to be both feared and embraced.

Quinn: Santana might be a bitch, but she knows how to cook. I'm going to need the best in this competition. Plus, it's obvious that in a food truck competition that it's going to focus on specific cultures for food tastes – we have a 1 in 3 chance of getting Mexican food. I'm hoping we're lucky.

/Interviews/

Emma's first choice is Will, with an embarrassed sort of tone. Will's smile at her is dazzling and when he goes up to get his apron their fingers brush and they both blush; Emma doesn't even get her hand sanitizer out.

Blaine had thought there was something going on between them.

After that they keep going around choosing their teams. In the end, Sam's team contains Kurt, Sheldon and Artie. The yellow team has Quinn, Santana, Jesse and Sebastian (Blaine doesn't know how she's going to control all three loud personalities in such close quarters.) Finally Emma’s red team is himself, Will and Rachel.

“Now, it's time to reveal the food you will be cooking,” says Graham. He walks over to the first food truck – the red team – and rips off the paper that had been covering the sign. It reads: “All American.”

“Red team, you'll be cooking an all American food menu today,” says Graham.

Gordon is the one to reveal the blue teams “Indian” sign, which stumps Sam, Artie and Sheldon. Kurt looks a little nervous himself, but his face reveals that he's already thinking up what they could possibly make.

Finally, Joe reveals the yellow team's sign, which is “Mexican” food.

Santana and Quinn jump, punching the air.

“Hell yes,” whispers Quinn as Santana says something in Spanish.

The judges let them go plan after they give them their instructions: they have to have at least two menu options and have to have someone to advertise their food when the time comes to start service – in exactly an hour.

The red team seems pretty together when they start planning; Emma is obviously not comfortable with a leadership position, so they all try to start in on equal footing, coming up with ideas. They decide on a hamburger and a hot dog, with some interesting toppings and sauces to make them stand out. They decide to make thick steak fries to go along with both dishes.

/Interviews/

Blaine: Our menu is simple, but we just don't want to get into much trouble, I think. I think it's a smart move.

Emma: I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not team captain potential. I'm just glad my team understands that.

/Interviews/

On the blue team, no one is quite sure what to make for Indian cuisine. In the end they decide to do a chicken kebab and a lamb curry.

/Interviews/  
Sam: Seriously what the hell do you make for Indian food?

Artie: I think I ate Indian food once. It was so spicy I downed a whole jug of milk.

/Interviews/

Over on the yellow team, Quinn has basically given creative rein to Santana.

/Interviews/

Quinn: I'd be stupid not to. She knows this food.

Santana: Quinn is a stuck up bitch, but she is a bitch who wants to win. The same can be said for Jesse and Sebastian. They all know that I know what the hell I'm doing, they decided to put all the crap aside and shut up while I tell them what to do.

/Interviews/

Nothing goes wrong per se on the red team. They seem to be functioning as well as they can be. When the hour of prep is done, they send Blaine out to advertise for him with a sign because he is, quote, “charming as anyone.” The other three stay behind to serve everyone.

Over on the blue team, it's nothing but mistake after mistake. Gordon comes by before the start serving and spits out their curry saying: “We want it to be tasty not burn people's tongues off!” So they turn down the spice.

Artie can't really get into the food truck, so they set up a station outside so he can cut most of their food and prepare it to be cooked inside; then he's sent out to advertise.

“We're all so white, who the hell is going to buy Indian food from us?” says Kurt, groaning.

But it's the yellow team that really shines. Somehow they keep the bitching to a minimum and work smoothly together. Once she knows everything is working out, Santana goes out to advertise their food.

Let's just say in her short, tight skirt and high heeled black boots she ropes in a ton of people.

At seeing the yellow team's success a few feet away, Blaine tells himself it doesn't mean anything. They have a healthy line of people, after all. And serving American food means they'll automatically get all the people who aren't as adventurous with food.

Finally the two hours of service come to an end and the judges tell them to shut their food truck windows. After that the money in their boxes is counted and the winners are revealed.

The blue team makes the least amount. They look upset, but not especially surprised.

Finally.....

“And by just 57 dollars, the winner is....” Gordon pauses, making Blaine suck in a breath. “The yellow team!”

Santana and Quinn hug each other, jumping up and down, before remembering that they sort of hate each other. Even Jesse and Sebastian high five each other.

“This means that red and blue teams, you will be competing tomorrow in the pressure test,” says Graham.

The next day they walk into the kitchen. The yellow team goes right up to the balcony while the red and blue teams stand in front of the judges, who in turn tell them that no one is being saved today and that they will all compete.

“Your pressure test today will be to make us a delicious cheesecake,” says Gordon.

There are gasp among the contestants – some of happiness and others of utter terror.

/Interviews/

Kurt: This is going to be a piece of cake – pun intended. I can make cheesecake in my sleep. I know I've definitely eaten one in my sleep.

Sam: I don't know the first thing about making a cheesecake. Why would you put cheese on a cake?

Blaine: I'm feeling okay about this. I've made a few cheesecakes before. It's my aunt's favorite so I've made it for her birthday a few times.

Rachel: Cheesecake is my favorite guilty pleasure. I can do this. And I'll make it vegan.

/Interviews/

The judges let them go and everyone scrambles to get their ingredients in order.

Blaine decides to make a chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Raspberries are his favorites and he thinks it will add a more tart element to a very sweet dish. When he finishes – with minutes to spare – he thinks it looks rather beautiful, actually.

He's the first one the judges call up to taste the food, so he sure hopes so.

The judges all give him good reviews; Joe says it could be a bit more tart if he's going to be putting the raspberries into the cake and Blaine agrees with him.

/Interviews/

Santana: God, that bowtie wearing hobbit is such a kiss up. We get it – you're perfect, stop.

/Interviews/

Rachel goes up with her vegan cheesecake and almost all the judges are hesitant; however they all seem to enjoy it.

Kurt makes a lemon cheesecake that blows the judges out of the water. When Kurt returns to his station, he looks to Blaine with almost a challenging expression. Blaine rolls his eyes.

Emma had tried to make a turtle cheesecake, which the judges describe as a “mess.”

“I'm just shocked to receive this from you,” says Graham. “You're always such respectful to detail of your plating and this is just....awful. It looks unappetizing and doesn't nail those flavors like they should. There's just – too much of everything. It's overpowering.”

Finally Sam goes up and his cheesecake isn't even completely cooked.

“I – I've never made one before,” says Sam, looking ashamed. “I didn't know how long to cook it for and I got it in too late. I'm sorry.”

When they have tasted everyone's food, they announce that today is the first of a back to back double elimination.

Blaine hopes Kurt doesn't hear him gulp.

Thankfully, Blaine – and Kurt – are both sent up to safety at the same time. Finally the only four people remaining are Sheldon, Sam, Emma and Sebastian.

“Sheldon and Sebastian, would you please stand next to each other. Sam and Emma, you too as well,” instructs Gordon. “One group of you is safe today. The other two will be going home.”

“It's surprising to me, the pair that are going home,” says Joe. “In the last few challenges, they've been performing rather well. But today messed them up.”

“And with that....our two team captains will be going home today. Sheldon and Sebastian – you are safe and can join the other contestants,” announces Graham.

Emma and Sam look disappointed, but hold their heads up high as they leave.

/Interviews/

Sam: I had a good run. I would have liked to win – for my family – but I think I did enough to help them by just being here. I have more confidence now to try to get a job in a restaurant, even if I can't afford to go to school for what I love right now. One day I will.

Emma: I have learned so much about myself here. I think I've learned to let go and that when I do, I cook better. I just have to keep remembering that.

/Interviews/


End file.
